All posts by Tony Dewhurst

Maranello, 24 January – An old friend was at Ferrari today on the eve of the presentation of this year’s car. Niki Lauda won the world championship with the Prancing Horse in 1975 and 1977 and today is non-executive president of Mercedes F1. This morning in Maranello, he met a man who was his team manager and was such a part of his Formula 1 wins, namely Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. Today they are rivals in the fight for the world championship. Niki met a friend with whom he shares many ideas about the top level of motorsport, both believing it is essential to work together to assure its solid and prosperous future.

From what a driver feels on the eve of the launch of a new car, to an evaluation of the challenge that awaits the teams in a season so full of unknown factors, Lauda had his say on ferrari.com, with his usual verve and forthright manner.

Ingolstadt/Daytona, January 24, 2014 – Premiere for the four rings: For the first time, an Audi will start from the pole position in the 24-hour race at Daytona (U.S. state of Florida). The German Christopher Haase posted the fastest time in the GT Daytona class for production-based sports cars in the Audi R8 LMS of the new Audi customer team Paul Miller Racing.

67 prototypes and GT sports cars will be tackling the 24-hour race at Daytona on Saturday at 14:10 local time (20:10 CET). For Audi, the iconic North American endurance race opens the 2014 GT season with the race debut of the new U.S. version of the Audi R8 LMS.

29 entrants and six brands make the GT Daytona category for production-based GT sports cars the class with the largest number of participants in the race. Four Audi customer teams, including Paul Miller as one of the largest Audi dealerships in the USA, are fielding a total of five Audi R8 LMS cars this weekend. The mid-engine sports car was further developed by Audi Sport customer racing for the new GT Daytona category and is immediately starting from the pole position in its first race.Continue reading FIRST POLE POSITION FOR AUDI AT DAYTONA→

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◾1976 world champion one of four new inductees for 2014 ◾Hunt family out in force to receive prestigious accolade

James Hunt will be one of four racing legends to be inducted into the coveted Motor Sport Hall of Fame later this month.

While breaking with tradition, the announcement in advance whets the appetite for a star-studded evening at the Royal Opera House on Wednesday 29 January.

Hunt, who sadly passed away in 1993, will always be remembered as one of the sport’s biggest personalities – more so now that his ultimately successful title duel with arch-rival Niki Lauda in 1976 has been immortalised in the Hollywood blockbuster Rush. The Austrian legend, though, did beat his British nemesis into the Hall of Fame – he is one of motor sport’s 25 greatest names already inducted.Continue reading James Hunt Rush’s in to the Motor Sport Hall Of Fame→

The McLaren name was born on the racetrack and, 50 years on, is the most successful name in global motorsport. That desire and determination to push for every extra tenth of a second, and obsessive focus on perfection, has seen the final development objective for the now sold out McLaren P1™ achieved: a sub-seven minute lap time of the Nürburgring circuit.

From the outset, the McLaren P1™ has been developed with one clear goal: to be the best driver’s car on both road and track. To achieve this, the development programme has focussed on ensuring the McLaren P1™ pushes the boundaries in terms of sheer performance, with testing carried out in some of the harshest conditions around the world. But one challenge remained, and that was arguably the toughest of them all.

20.8 kilometres driven at an average speed in excess of 178 km/h. Sounds easy, until you add in more than 150 corners, 300 metres of elevation changes and cornering forces of up to 2g. All in less than seven minutes…

Commenting on the sub-seven achievement by the McLaren P1™, McLaren Formula 1™ driver and 2009 world champion Jenson Button said: ‘The fact that the McLaren P1™ has posted a sub-seven-minute lap at the Nürburgring is unbelievably impressive.

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Boom Banger Rally’s first event “The Cosmopolitan Classic” was held in August this year and will return with two more Rallies in 2014.

The Cosmo is a classic European Rally driving through France, Switzerland, Italy and Monaco over three days and in 2014 will be held on August Bank holiday – 22nd and 24th August.

However before that “The Marrakech Express” will be launched, a Rally to Africa which Boom hope will bridge the gap between many similar European events and the longer more hard core routes inaccessible to many. This event will run during the week leading up to Easter – 13th and 17th April meaning teams can enjoy Easter weekend in Marrakech before flying home. Starting in Reims in France (165 miles from Calais) it will take five days to travel down through France, across The Pyrenees into Spain, and through Gibraltar to Morocco. The total driving distance from Reims to the finish line in Marrakech is just under 2000 miles.

The criteria for entering any of the Boom Banger Rallies is to have a minimum of two drivers and the car must cost no more than £250. Also, the rules state, “Vehicles with genuine comedy value will be EXEMPT from the £250 limit.”

Bookings are now live for next year’s Rallies. Until the end of November, the entry fee has been reduced to £175 for the Cosmopolitan Classic and £250 for the Marrakech Express.

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BMW has revealed the i8 in production for the first time at IAA in Frankfurt, the 1,490 kg (3,284 lbs) plug-in hybrid adopts a 2+2 configuration and boasts a carbon fiber reinforced plastic passenger cell and an aluminium frame for the combustion engine and electric motor, the battery pack and the suspension.

The doors are made up of a CFRP inner structure and an aluminium outer skin and weigh 50 per cent less than a conventional construction. The intelligent construction of the magnesium instrument panel support brings a weight saving of around 30 per cent compared with the BMW 6 Series, for example. In addition, the high structural rigidity of the magnesium support structure The revolutionary character of the BMW i8 is emphasised by a further innovation: the use of an internal combustion engine which is making its debut in this model.

The BMW i8 is the first BMW production model to be powered by a three-cylinder petrol engine.

This highly turbocharged unit is equipped with latest-generation BMW TwinPower Turbo technology. It is exceptionally compact and develops maximum power of 170 kW/231 hp from its 1.5-litre displacement. The resulting specific output of 113 kW/154 hp per litre of displacement is on a par with high-performance sports car engines and is the highest of any engine produced by the BMW Group.

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As the first vehicle to boast global road homologation, the Porsche 918 Spyder* has conquered the 20.6-kilometre lap around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in less than seven minutes. Achieving a time of exactly six minutes and 57 seconds, the super sportscar equipped with a hybrid drive shaved 14 seconds off the previous record. Wolfgang Hatz, member of the Porsche AG Board of Management in charge of Research and Development, had the following to say: “We promised a great deal with the 918 Spyder, namely to redefine driving pleasure, efficiency and performance. We have kept our word.”

Well the internet rumor mill is alive and kicking touting that the McLaren P1 has lapped the Nürburgring in 7:04 but no official release from McLaren in apparent dismay that they haven’t broken the 7 minute barrier.

Although this is 5 seconds shy of Ron Dennis quote at the Geneva Motorshow that it would break the 7 minute barrier, which would make it the fastest street-legal production car ever to round the famous German circuit. But McLaren hasn’t confirmed the time, and it likely won’t.Continue reading McLaren P1 – Laps the Nordschleife in 7:04 Maybe?→